DIY African Juju Hat

Hi there! Here is a little crafting project I decided to tackle earlier in the week. It was easy peasy, and you can do it too! So, I have been wanting an African Juju Hat to whack on one of my walls, but they are a little pricey and I happened to see a few tutorials on Pinterest on how to make one, so I thought I would give it a go! If you google DIY Juju Hat, there are lots of tutorials actually…

The hardest part was finding the feathers. I could buy them from overseas, but these are real bleached rooster feathers, so I needed a certificate to get them in to the country and I wasn’t doing that! Anyway, after a few weeks of searching on and off, I found these.

This is what the feathers look like when they are strung together. They are very soft and fragile so you do need to be careful with them.

Of course you need to make a circle so I found a platter plate what the perfect size! It was 4ocm in diameter. The finished size will be about 65cm. The retail shops sell the African Juju Hats in multiple sizes and the 70cm ones are roughly $650 to purchase.

Then we cut around the circle and created a little dip in the shape. So cut a line to the centre, fold it over and staple it together like the photo above.

Start glueing the outer row of feathers all the way around. Then I did a second row (about 4-5 cm in from the first row). I then did a very small 3rd row. I had NO feathers left at all, so if you’re following my exact measurements you need to be careful you don’t run out! Order a little extra if you’re not confident.

I found random feathers all over the kitchen because it was so fragile and bits were flying everywhere! I gathered them up and got out the craft glue (not the hot glue gun as it’s HOT and you can’t stick your fingers in the glue to manipulate the position of the feathers) and I started placing them in any gaps I could see.

And here she is!!

I moved her from above the butler’s tray (which was a surprise gift from A-M – you can buy here!) because I realised the heater vent was straight above it and it kept blowing the feathers. Anyway, for now I have moved it to my entrance. I could have put it in so many places throughout my home. I love it

What did this project cost, you ask? Well like I mentioned above, the retail stores sell 70cm ones for $650. My version is 65cm and cost me $180 including the cardboard and glue (I have just noticed the feather shop has reduced their pricing, so hurry for those!). That’s a fraction of the cost! I bought the feathers, the glue gun and the cardboard.

Now, what do you think? Do you think you’ll give it a go? Let me know if you do!

Comments

I love this and you are so clever but I hate feathers, hate them. They come from birds and they fly and I hate them too .. :p
Sadly I could not even touch the feathers to make it.
Well done though, it looks amazing Katrina.
Great satisfaction when you can do it yourself and save some dollars.
Have a great day.

Love it! I too have wanted a juju hat for some time but the price has curbed the enthusiasm! I have just ordered white and magenta feathers, I am going to make the very middle row magenta as I have seen it once, looked very cool! Thanks!

It looks great Katrina. I’ve just admired these from afar, it never occurred to me to actually DIY one. I probably still won’t! Haha. For Erica; the feathers are $5.50 (or reduced when I looked $2.50) per 10cm. So for 1m they are $55..Be careful when ordering, you’ll need to enter 10 for every metre you would like. So for Katrina’s measurements you would enter 30 in the Qty field.

Hi Katrina, I loved this! I always googled for DIY projects but they all seemed either hard and far fetched or not-so-pretty to me. This was so doable. I made one myself and it looks gorgeous. I go and pay my juju hat a visit every hour now.. .. It feels so good too to have made something.. Onto the herringbone painting on canvas now.. Thanks a lot for such wonderful posts..

hi Katrina – quick question – is yours concave or convex? – it’s not sure what they are meant to be. I think from google it’s meant to be concave? i’m about to start making one and just want to get it right. thanks fiona